March 16, 2025

200 Miles, One Lens, No Limits: David Solomon’s 2025 Swammie Shuffle Ultra Journey

200 Miles, One Lens, No Limits: David Solomon’s 2025 Swammie Shuffle Ultra Journey
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Season 3

What does it take to conquer 220 miles of beach, trail, and road when your body is actively fighting against you? David Solomon knows the answer all too well. Living with fascioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) hasn't stopped him from pursuing ultra endurance challenges that would break many other runners.

David's journey through the recent Swammie Shuffle 200 takes us from the beaches of North Carolina's Outer Banks through moments of profound crisis and unexpected beauty. Having been a natural distance runner since childhood, he found his spiritual home in ultrarunning after completing the JFK 50 in 2001. Years later, when FSHD began affecting his muscle groups, David refused to surrender his passion—instead adapting and persevering.

The raw emotional honesty David shares about his darkest moment during the race—sobbing in bed on day three, unsure how he could possibly continue—resonates deeply. Yet somehow, he found the strength to take that next step, then another, ultimately logging 25 miles on his worst day. His description of the mental games played by that endless Virginia Beach horizon will feel painfully familiar to anyone who's tackled long distances.

What makes David's story uniquely compelling is how he marries suffering with beauty. As a talented photographer (Beloved Peace Photography), he pauses even in the depths of exhaustion to capture breathtaking landscapes. These creative moments serve as both documentation and spiritual sustenance, grounding him in peace while his body screams for relief.

The power of friendship shines throughout, particularly when his race crew and good friend Steven Dence, along with volunteer extraordinaire Mike Horner, ran out from the finish line to join him for the final brutal miles along the beach. The unexpected jubilation of finishing in daylight to cheers from fellow runners creates a perfect culmination to days of solitary struggle.

Perhaps most astounding? Just two weeks after completing this epic journey, David is heading back to attempt the Blackbeard's Revenge 100-miler on the same course. His philosophy that the clock is ticking with his progressive condition drives him to seize every opportunity while he still can.

Want to witness how determination and spirit can transcend physical limitations? David's story will move you to reconsider what's possible in your own life, whether you're a runner or not. Check out his stunning photography on Instagram at Beloved Peace Photography and let his journey inspire your own pursuit of seemingly impossible dreams.

Beloved Peace Photography (Instagram):

https://www.instagram.com/beloved_peace_photography?igsh=bGUwdW03ZmdudWto

Choose to Endure:
Email:
info@choosetoendure.com

Website:
https://www.choosetoendure.com/

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@ChoosetoEndure

Instagram:
https://instagram.com/choose_to_endure?utm_source=qr

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552757049526

Chapters

00:53 - Introduction to Choose to Endure

03:21 - Meeting David: Runner and Photographer

09:23 - David's Running Journey and FSHD Diagnosis

17:21 - The Swami Shuffle 200 Experience

26:00 - Day Three Crisis and Breakthrough

35:15 - Final Push to the Finish Line

46:49 - Photography as Peace and Recovery

51:22 - What's Next: Blackbeard's 100

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:04.969
Hello and welcome If this is your first time with us.

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Thank you so much for stopping by.

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You are listening to Choose to Endure, the show dedicated to the non-elite runners, where we share stories, interviews, gear and training tips specific to the tail-end heroes of the Ultra universe.

00:00:22.594 --> 00:00:24.544
My name is Richard Gleave.

00:00:24.544 --> 00:00:28.053
I have been running Ultras now since 2017.

00:00:28.053 --> 00:00:43.993
I have taken on and finished numerous Ultra distances, all the way up through 220 miles, and I am unashamedly a member of the back of the pack, just like many of you out there.

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Member of the back of the pack, just like many of you out there.

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Now, today, I am thrilled to introduce you to a really quite extraordinary guest, mr David Solomon.

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David's story is one of resilience, creativity and passion.

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Not only is he an accomplished ultra runner, but he is also a really talented photographer, capturing stunning landscapes under his name and moniker, beloved Peace Photography.

00:01:11.049 --> 00:01:29.566
What makes David's journey even more remarkable is that he's done all this while living with fascio scapulohumeral muscular dystrophy FSHD moving forwards, which is a progressive muscle disorder that presents some unique physical challenges.

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Despite this, david has refused to let those challenges define his limits, and in this episode, we're going to hear about his very recent experience finishing the Swami Shuffle 200.

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We'll explore his creative journey behind the camera lens and learn how he continues to push himself physically and mentally while living with FSHD.

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So whether you're here for the inspiration, the ultra running insights, or just to hear a really compelling story, I think you're in for a treat.

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Let's dive in.

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Discover raw, inspiring stories from runners who've been right where you are.

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This is the Choose to Endure Ultra Running Podcast With your host he's English, not Australian Richard Gleave.

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David, welcome to the show.

00:02:25.723 --> 00:02:29.993
Really excited to have the opportunity to chat with you today.

00:02:29.993 --> 00:02:32.907
I think you've had such an incredible journey.

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I really think listeners are going to find your story inspiring and relatable.

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To get things kicked off, can you share a bit about your background and really what first drew you to ultra running and also photography?

00:02:48.153 --> 00:02:49.305
Where does that come into play?

00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:57.614
Well, my earliest recollection of running was when I was a child, maybe eight or nine years old.

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There was this guy that lived across the street that was older than me and he would do the one mile loop around the neighborhood that we lived in and I expressed interest to go with him, but I guess he didn't think I would be able to do the distance.

00:03:13.603 --> 00:03:30.556
But I did do the distance, I seem to recall more than once, and he was surprised that I was able to stick with him and do the distance, and so distance running has just sort of always been just a part of who I am.

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I ran track in the ninth grade.

00:03:33.990 --> 00:03:43.235
I competed in the two-mile event and I placed first once and had three second-place finishes.

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Then I did a bit of running in the Navy, but it wasn't until 1997.

00:03:50.375 --> 00:03:57.413
Oh nice when I did a 5K and that sort of kicked off consistency and running.

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But it actually wasn't until later that same year that I ran the Duke Children's 15K and placed third in my age group and that really permanently sealed the deal on my passion for endurance running.

00:04:15.222 --> 00:04:15.483
Nice.

00:04:15.483 --> 00:04:17.970
And so where did the ultra running come in?

00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:30.644
So after the 15K I ran a few races and then I did my first marathon in 1999, the Myrtle Beach Marathon, which was a lot of fun.

00:04:30.644 --> 00:04:37.862
And then I did a couple more marathons and decided I wanted to do more, but I wasn't sure what.

00:04:37.862 --> 00:04:46.995
And then I found out about ultra marathons, a whole different sort of subculture of running that I didn't even know existed.

00:04:46.995 --> 00:04:55.093
And I chose for my first ultra the JFK 50 mile in 2001.

00:04:55.093 --> 00:05:09.870
And it was such an incredible experience, running over that type of terrain and being in that type of environment, running over that type of terrain and being in that type of environment, that I knew I was home.

00:05:09.870 --> 00:05:18.675
Like marathons are fun, other distances are fun, but nothing just you know, spoke to my soul the same way the ultra marathons have?

00:05:19.216 --> 00:05:29.629
Had you always been into the photography side of things, or did that come about as a result of the ultra running as you were out in these awesome places like how and where does the photography piece fit in?

00:05:29.629 --> 00:05:30.930
So, ever since I?

00:05:30.971 --> 00:05:37.846
was a child, I've had an interest in photography, but of course, I grew up during the film age and coming up at it.

00:05:37.846 --> 00:05:43.985
Uh, you know, we didn't have a lot of money when I was coming up and so you just couldn't take a lot of shots on mom's camera when I was a kid.

00:05:43.985 --> 00:05:48.033
So the interest was always there, but the resources were not.

00:05:48.033 --> 00:06:01.211
But then, as cell phones came along and cameras came on cell phones and the cameras on the cell phones became better, I started snapping images with my cell phone pretty consistently, I guess in 2017.

00:06:01.211 --> 00:06:05.894
And, to my surprise, people were requesting to purchase prints that I would post, and I'm like you know, I just snapped this.

00:06:05.894 --> 00:06:15.870
To my surprise, people were requesting to purchase prints that I would post, and I'm like you know, I just snapped this with my phone, right and they were like well, we don't care, it's a great image, and so that's what started it.

00:06:15.951 --> 00:06:22.827
I did get my first real camera in 2018 and have accumulated additional gear since then.

00:06:22.827 --> 00:06:32.389
So I do have a couple of smaller cameras that I normally take with me on runs and hikes so that the weight isn't as much of a factor.

00:06:32.389 --> 00:06:46.968
I did carry some during Swami, but I eventually ditched the camera because I found that I really didn't have a lot of interest in fooling with the camera while I was running, but I did so all of those shots fooling with the camera while I was running, but I did so all of those shots were taken with my phone.

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I mean truly.

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You probably wouldn't know unless you had asked.

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There's some really good shots out there.

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Do you go looking for shots specifically or do you just find and see them and go oh, that's something I've got to take a shot of.

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You know I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but there's this thing when people say you've got the eye, and I realized I've got the eye.

00:07:06.221 --> 00:07:16.752
So it's like, you know, I'll come along a scene and it's like boom, all of a sudden everything in the scene aligns and I'm like, okay, I need to snap this sort of a thing.

00:07:16.752 --> 00:07:21.206
And so that's where a lot of my images came in, Swami.

00:07:21.206 --> 00:07:22.026
So yeah, yeah.

00:07:22.047 --> 00:07:24.108
There's some really good ones out there.

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Definitely encourage folks to go have a look.

00:07:25.690 --> 00:07:27.954
I think you're on mainly Instagram, is that right?

00:07:27.954 --> 00:07:29.255
Yes, sir, that's correct.

00:07:29.699 --> 00:07:30.583
Yeah, thank you.

00:07:30.963 --> 00:07:36.201
So we'll link that in the show notes here and definitely folks go out there and have a look at that.

00:07:36.201 --> 00:07:43.732
Now, as far as the FSHD, have you always had that, or where in your running journey did that kick in?

00:07:43.732 --> 00:07:45.975
If you haven't always had that?

00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:48.444
Yeah, sure, so it's genetic.

00:07:48.444 --> 00:07:53.442
So technically I've always had it, but it didn't manifest itself until later in my life.

00:07:53.442 --> 00:08:05.689
It is sometimes hereditary, but in my case it was not, so my genes mutated, so no one passed it down to me, but I can pass it down to my kids.

00:08:05.689 --> 00:08:08.966
I'm not sure if they have it or not, but it can be passed down.

00:08:09.646 --> 00:08:41.086
Mine was adult onset, so, except for some subtle signs I may have realized going back some years, it really didn't show up until I was 37, 38 years old in 2011, I think it was and I remember we were moving one weekend and I was trying to reach some shelves in the closet and all of a sudden my right arm wouldn't go above my shoulder anymore.

00:08:41.086 --> 00:08:53.941
It didn't hurt, there was no pain associated with it, but I just noticed that I, you know, I couldn't do what I used to be able to do with that arm, and so eventually I went to the doctor.

00:08:53.941 --> 00:09:09.294
They referred me to a bunch of people who didn't know what was going on, and finally I got referred to duke, and they did some tests and discovered that I did have the gene defect that causes the FSHD.

00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:16.446
So yeah, for those out there that may be wondering I think you alluded to it right there but how does it impact your day-to-day life?

00:09:16.446 --> 00:09:26.971
And then, secondly, how did that then impact your approach to the running and any other endurance sports that you might have participated in after you've had this onset?

00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:28.100
Yeah.

00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:38.832
So the good news is I don't like to make the situation sound worse than it is, because there are a lot of people that I've seen with FSHD that are wheelchair bound.

00:09:38.832 --> 00:09:41.048
It's progressed much farther with them.

00:09:41.048 --> 00:09:53.614
There's just huge variations between symptoms and effects that people have, so adult onset is normally less severe, so thankfully mine is less severe.

00:09:53.614 --> 00:10:00.570
So far it has not really been a debilitating disease for me.

00:10:00.570 --> 00:10:19.229
I can still do 85% of the things I've always done, but the disease does progress very slowly but it does progress, and so things that I've always done are just more difficult for me to do and take more recovery time sometimes.

00:10:19.229 --> 00:10:24.600
Also, the FSHD doesn't affect every muscle everywhere.

00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:26.508
It only affects certain muscle groups.

00:10:26.508 --> 00:10:30.510
So different types of muscular dystrophy affects different muscle groups.

00:10:30.510 --> 00:10:39.797
So for me mine is primarily in my upper back, my triceps, my quadriceps and my hips.

00:10:39.797 --> 00:10:44.750
Those areas Also it's normally asymmetric.

00:10:44.750 --> 00:10:51.466
Those areas also it's normally asymmetric, so it will usually affect only one side and not the other.

00:10:51.486 --> 00:11:04.504
Or if it affects both sides, usually one side is affected worse than the other side so, so clearly, your fshd hasn't affected you to the point yet where you can't finish something like the swami shuffle.

00:11:04.504 --> 00:11:06.870
So let's get into your race experience.

00:11:06.870 --> 00:11:12.466
What a week ago, two weeks ago, whenever it was now I don't know, the days seem to go together.

00:11:12.466 --> 00:11:13.664
We finished two weeks ago.

00:11:13.664 --> 00:11:14.904
Yeah, I guess it is.

00:11:14.904 --> 00:11:18.724
Yeah, it's almost exactly two weeks ago at this point, yeah, yeah.

00:11:18.724 --> 00:11:29.576
So, first of all, I had a quick look on your ultra signup bio and you have a ton of ultra races out there, but I didn't see any other races kind of up and around the 200 mile mark.

00:11:29.576 --> 00:11:36.581
What made you?

00:11:37.342 --> 00:11:39.546
decide to tackle the Swami Shuffle and a 200 miler.

00:11:39.546 --> 00:11:46.296
So I have paced my buddy Dents, Stephen Dents, at the Swami twice now, in 2022 and 2024.

00:11:46.296 --> 00:11:52.633
And during those years he was always pushing and prodding me to do the Swami also.

00:11:52.633 --> 00:11:58.753
And I told him that, other than short distances, I really love out and backs.

00:11:58.753 --> 00:12:04.393
And I told him I just couldn't fathom doing an out and back that totaled 216 miles.

00:12:04.393 --> 00:12:05.845
That's just out of the question.

00:12:05.845 --> 00:12:18.970
Yeah, but through pacing him and crewing him and also I've done a number of other solo adventures and races on the Outer Banks I've kind of just become an expert on the course, I guess.

00:12:18.970 --> 00:12:27.260
And so it started to feel less like something I wouldn't want to do and more like something I'm kind of already doing anyway.

00:12:27.260 --> 00:12:30.927
So like, why not just sign up and see what happens?

00:12:30.927 --> 00:12:37.970
And so Vince and I switched roles and he crewed me and the rest is history.

00:12:38.611 --> 00:12:40.798
Yeah, walk us through your experience.

00:12:40.798 --> 00:12:44.114
First of all, I think you and I met in the runner house pre-race.

00:12:44.114 --> 00:12:46.402
We were doing pre-game in the house there.

00:12:46.402 --> 00:12:51.231
So had you ever done 200 miles in any way, shape or form at that point, or no?

00:12:51.472 --> 00:13:02.450
no, I I have done a couple of hundred milers, but I have not finished a hundred miler officially since 2014.

00:13:02.870 --> 00:13:21.888
Okay, so so to more than double that distance you know, 11 years later was definitely a significant undertaking for me how were you feeling that that day before, the night before a 200 mile race, having not finished 100 since goodness knows when?

00:13:21.888 --> 00:13:24.653
I imagine that's got to be pretty daunting.

00:13:28.721 --> 00:13:30.580
Yeah, I mean, you know how the runner's mind works because you're one yourself.

00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:37.450
We go through periods of excitement and dreaming to periods of what the heck have I gotten myself into?

00:13:37.450 --> 00:13:42.908
And so sometimes it seemed like a really great idea, and sometimes it seemed like a really terrible idea.

00:13:42.908 --> 00:13:44.908
And this is all before the race even started.

00:13:51.220 --> 00:14:00.884
And then we had snow this year as well snow on the beach and ice on the on the trails, which is unusual for the area and so added interest to the 200 mile event, although thankfully it went away, I think, as we got further south.

00:14:00.884 --> 00:14:03.548
But yeah, it was pretty cool to start with.

00:14:03.548 --> 00:14:05.732
Yeah, it was all right.

00:14:05.732 --> 00:14:07.582
So tell me how your, how your race went.

00:14:07.582 --> 00:14:08.644
How did it start off?

00:14:08.644 --> 00:14:13.160
Day one, day two you've got the beach sections to get kicked off.

00:14:13.160 --> 00:14:15.548
How did your race go at the start?

00:14:16.370 --> 00:14:23.687
so the good news is I knew all about the beach section because I've done it twice already but finishing, finishing with dense.

00:14:23.687 --> 00:14:26.381
So you know I knew what to expect.

00:14:26.381 --> 00:14:39.245
The beach section seemed really easy to me only because the first two times I did it was at densest finish and by the way, I had paced I think the second time I crewed and paced for him I covered like 80 some miles myself that week.

00:14:39.245 --> 00:14:46.010
So you know, I think I was as happy to finish that as he was, even though he had done far more distance than me.

00:14:46.010 --> 00:14:51.591
So I was kind of thinking about all of that when I was hitting the beach in my own race.

00:14:51.671 --> 00:15:00.494
But now heading out, and obviously you know, the first day for most everybody is probably the best day, at least for a while.

00:15:00.494 --> 00:15:02.908
And so I was feeling really good.

00:15:02.908 --> 00:15:04.004
I thought I would.

00:15:04.004 --> 00:15:15.562
I thought it would take me eight hours to get off the beach, cause when I did it a year ago with dance it took me eight hours to get off the beach, but I actually came off the beach in six, 48, which was a lot better than I thought I would be.

00:15:16.302 --> 00:15:36.061
And uh, yeah, oh and I should interject this too is I actually had a really nasty fall on February the 3rd, and for a couple of weeks I wasn't even sure I would be able to run the race at all, because I was in significant pain in my back.

00:15:36.061 --> 00:15:46.118
X-rays were negative, which is great, but I still had some pain in my back all the way up till the Friday before the race.

00:15:46.118 --> 00:16:06.972
But then on Saturday, when we were traveling in, what was lingering had disappeared, and so I was very thankful for that, because I wasn't even I wasn't sure if I'd be able to race at all, and once I got started I thought the injury might resurface and wreak havoc on my efforts, but it actually didn't.

00:16:08.421 --> 00:16:09.466
Excellent, yeah, yeah.

00:16:09.466 --> 00:16:20.653
So you got off the beach in 648, which I think is a pretty decent effort, to be fair and then you start your way down from Corolla down to Nags Head and then over to over Pea Island.

00:16:20.653 --> 00:16:22.222
How was that for you?

00:16:22.222 --> 00:16:26.172
Did you make good time on those first few days with Mr Dents?

00:16:26.172 --> 00:16:28.024
How did you guys work together?

00:16:28.024 --> 00:16:31.052
How was he setting up from a crew perspective?

00:16:31.779 --> 00:16:36.508
Yeah, so Dents is so awesome.

00:16:36.508 --> 00:16:44.870
I feel like I did a really good job crewing and pacing him, but I also feel like he was even better than I was.

00:16:44.870 --> 00:16:46.841
I kept telling him I'm like man.

00:16:46.841 --> 00:16:49.063
I said I feel really needy.

00:16:49.063 --> 00:16:59.311
I said I don't know, I feel like I'm tougher for you than you were for me, and maybe that was just me being in my head, I don't know.

00:16:59.311 --> 00:17:02.900
But he and I strategized constantly.

00:17:02.900 --> 00:17:09.071
I mean, from the outset, we were constantly strategizing, shifting the game plan.

00:17:09.071 --> 00:17:10.173
I mean you know how it is.

00:17:10.173 --> 00:17:10.815
You were out there.

00:17:10.815 --> 00:17:12.547
I'm sure you guys were doing the same thing.

00:17:12.547 --> 00:17:24.923
And so the challenge is not just maintaining a certain mileage per day, but also how does that coincide with places you would like to stop and stay for the night?

00:17:24.923 --> 00:17:27.204
But also how does that coincide with places you would like to stop and stay for the night?

00:17:27.204 --> 00:17:32.009
And so you know, those two things together presented a lot of challenges in the planning, for sure.

00:17:32.630 --> 00:17:41.136
Did you guys have a plan to stay somewhere every night, or was there ever a plan to kind of go through as far as you can, and did it play out like that?

00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:43.905
Here's the funny thing.

00:17:43.905 --> 00:17:45.314
Ok, so dense is a.

00:17:45.314 --> 00:17:48.463
Dense is a more gifted runner than I am, so he can.

00:17:48.463 --> 00:17:54.981
He can control his plan better by speeding up or slowing down than I can.

00:17:54.981 --> 00:17:58.067
For me, I'm just going to be slower, slower, okay.

00:17:58.067 --> 00:18:03.443
So me improving my situation by speeding up is never going to happen.

00:18:03.443 --> 00:18:08.534
I just do what I do and other things have to fall in place in order to make that happen.

00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:16.153
So when Dents did it, he coined his experience with Swami as Bhuji, the Bhuji Swami.

00:18:16.153 --> 00:18:18.367
In other words, he knew where he was going to stay.

00:18:18.367 --> 00:18:25.711
Every night For the most part he got to all of those places we stayed, got up the next morning and continued on.

00:18:25.711 --> 00:18:39.333
We both knew that my situation was going to be different because in order for me to log the same amount of miles per day, I was going to need more hours each day to be able to accomplish that same amount of mileage.

00:18:39.333 --> 00:18:46.279
So we knew that we would probably stay some places along the way, but we didn't have a preset schedule.

00:18:46.279 --> 00:19:07.945
So we were just kind of seeing how the days went and then maybe, once we got over the halfway point, sort of the finishing plan started to come into more focus and we kind of knew how much we needed to do and the destinations that we needed to shoot for each day needed to do and the destinations that we needed to shoot for each day.

00:19:07.965 --> 00:19:12.623
Now you I think you said you've done at least some of this course with, with steve in particular, but other parts of it maybe by you know, by yourself.

00:19:12.623 --> 00:19:17.742
Are there any favorite parts of this course that you have or parts that you like the least so?

00:19:18.403 --> 00:19:20.386
I really love running through the town of duck.

00:19:20.386 --> 00:19:26.035
It's just such a charming, charming little beach town so I really enjoy Duck.

00:19:26.035 --> 00:19:33.259
Personally, I prefer running through all of the little towns more than I do the section.

00:19:33.259 --> 00:19:35.948
I call the sections desolation.

00:19:35.948 --> 00:19:39.386
The desolation stretches, and it isn't because they aren't beautiful.

00:19:39.386 --> 00:19:49.233
They are extremely beautiful and if I were out on a short casual run I would probably enjoy those sections more.

00:19:49.233 --> 00:20:08.375
But because I'm already so mentally fatigued it just seems like some of those sections carry on forever and ever and so I don't enjoy running ultras in those long, desolate sections as much as I do running through the little towns.

00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:13.992
Yeah, so down over Pea Island and then down past well out to Avon.

00:20:13.992 --> 00:20:24.272
That's another one that really messes with people's head when you come out of Salvo and you've got like 15 miles of straight road until you get to Avon down there.

00:20:24.272 --> 00:20:25.214
That's a tough stretch.

00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:35.733
Yeah, and at one point you can see it in some of the photos I posted maybe one or two but I had a bucket hat on, tried to keep some of the sun off my face.

00:20:35.733 --> 00:20:39.744
Man, those vehicles were flying so fast it kept blowing my hat off.

00:20:39.744 --> 00:20:49.066
So then I flipped it up and made it kind of look like a Gilligan's hat, and it was a weird way to wear it, but that was the only way I could keep it on my head.

00:20:50.930 --> 00:20:52.713
Yeah, we're talking about photos.

00:20:52.713 --> 00:20:55.469
I think you have a great photo out there of you sitting there.

00:20:55.469 --> 00:20:57.445
It's the pizza and lube photo.

00:20:57.445 --> 00:20:58.690
I think that I like a lot.

00:20:58.690 --> 00:21:02.329
What was going on with the pizza and lube photo.

00:21:03.299 --> 00:21:06.772
Man, I don't know, I, um, I.

00:21:06.772 --> 00:21:12.028
I like to think that I'm self-sufficient and I've proven that I can be on my solar adventures.

00:21:12.028 --> 00:21:28.964
In fact, this is the first race I've ever been crewed in at all, to the best of my knowledge, and so in a sense it sort of made me uncomfortable, just because I don't know that I'm really like to be weighted on hand and foot, but it was.

00:21:28.964 --> 00:21:32.317
It was clear to me that this is going to be my best chance of finishing.

00:21:32.317 --> 00:21:34.304
I did it for dance, he was doing it for me.

00:21:34.925 --> 00:21:40.381
We have such a good chemistry together so it was just a really fun time.

00:21:40.381 --> 00:21:44.471
And so by the time that photo was taken, like, like we knew what our routine was.

00:21:44.471 --> 00:21:58.651
In fact, I would start texting him in advance of me getting to the next stop, saying I need this, this and this, and he said that really helped him out a whole lot, and so then when I showed up he'd have my chair out, all of the things next to it that I would need.

00:21:58.651 --> 00:22:03.444
So you know we were kind of a well-oiled machine by that point.

00:22:03.444 --> 00:22:11.836
So it was funny to get a photo image of what had become our racer-crewer reality up to that point.

00:22:12.921 --> 00:22:15.209
Yeah, well-oiled or well-lubed, I don't know.

00:22:15.209 --> 00:22:21.026
It was definitely good.

00:22:21.026 --> 00:22:27.173
Now, did you have a standard where Steve would go every two miles and stop, or every five miles and stop?

00:22:27.819 --> 00:22:36.821
Yeah, it was kind of it just sort of depended on where I was mentally and physically and then so, you know, we would tweak that.

00:22:36.821 --> 00:22:50.703
So the more the overnights or the or the early mornings, I should say those are my best times of day, and so I feel like I didn't need as much attention during those times of day, but then the later we got in the day.

00:22:50.703 --> 00:23:12.553
You know, the late afternoon into early evening is just always really tough for me, and so at times I would say, you know, let's do every two miles, and then a time or two I even called him and had him come meet me even sooner than we had planned, just because times I just felt unwell and things like that.

00:23:12.553 --> 00:23:16.655
And so yeah, we just kind of tweaked it as we went.

00:23:17.076 --> 00:23:17.477
Excellent.

00:23:17.477 --> 00:23:31.902
Aside from the pizza and lube, were there any other specific moments you can recall?

00:23:31.922 --> 00:23:33.663
either on the way out or the way back.

00:23:33.663 --> 00:23:35.005
That really stood out to you.

00:23:35.005 --> 00:23:38.107
Was there any point in the race where you thought I may not actually finish this?

00:23:38.107 --> 00:23:38.429
Yes, definitely.

00:23:38.429 --> 00:23:42.640
So I have learned during my multi-day hikes that day three I'm sorry, day two is usually the worst for me.

00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:47.602
So I anticipated day two being the worst for me during Swami.

00:23:47.602 --> 00:23:50.980
But day two was worse than day one for sure.

00:23:50.980 --> 00:23:58.317
But it was actually day three when I bottomed out, and so what I was really struggling with is like the first two nights.

00:23:58.919 --> 00:24:01.003
I think the first day I logged 44 miles.

00:24:01.003 --> 00:24:02.672
Next day I logged 40 miles.

00:24:02.672 --> 00:24:03.432
I logged 44 miles.

00:24:03.432 --> 00:24:04.453
Next day I logged 40 miles.

00:24:04.453 --> 00:24:09.898
But each time I wasn't getting to the hotel or wherever we were staying until like 1 or 2 in the morning.

00:24:09.898 --> 00:24:14.284
And I told him, as I said, I'm like man, I can't keep doing this.

00:24:14.284 --> 00:24:37.478
Because here's the thing you know, I've run 117 ultras up to this point over a number of years, and where this differs from other ultras is when you run an ultra, you know you run for a few hours or a day and then you get to go home and soothe the well, okay, but in this you don't get to soothe anything.

00:24:37.719 --> 00:24:44.968
You got to get up the next day and do it again, and then the next day and do it again, and then the next day and do it again, and then the next day and do it again.

00:24:44.968 --> 00:24:56.357
So, even though in my head I knew that that was what was going to occur, nothing could have prepared me for that experience except actually become involved in the event.

00:24:56.357 --> 00:25:06.544
And so when I got up on day three, I mean I laid in bed sobbing because I didn't know how I would go on.

00:25:06.544 --> 00:25:12.090
I was chafing in really bad places, you know.

00:25:12.090 --> 00:25:15.656
My feet were really swollen, my legs just hurt and ached.

00:25:16.230 --> 00:25:28.623
I mean I looked like a cripple just getting out of bed and walking around the place and I thought, I mean I really thought I just might not be able to do this anymore.

00:25:28.623 --> 00:25:35.163
And that's so unlike me, because usually I can find some place of motivation to get out the door.

00:25:35.163 --> 00:25:37.017
But I didn't have any on this day.

00:25:37.017 --> 00:25:50.374
And so, when I tell you, when I finally stepped out the door, I don't even know what made that possible I just and I told Vince I said I have no goals today.

00:25:50.374 --> 00:25:55.775
Like my only goal is to take the next step and then the next step, and we'll just see where that gets me.

00:25:55.775 --> 00:26:01.874
I ended up logging 25 miles that day, which I felt was pretty good, considering I didn't want to do 25 feet.

00:26:01.874 --> 00:26:14.759
But I realized then why these journey races are so incredibly difficult and it really broke me down, man.

00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:25.141
It really moved me to the core, you know, experiencing that level of endurance to the point where I just didn't want to go anymore.

00:26:25.141 --> 00:26:28.156
I mean really truly didn't want to go anymore.

00:26:28.518 --> 00:26:29.661
But did anyway.

00:26:29.661 --> 00:26:42.698
Yeah, and yet you did anyway, and that I think is key and point of a lot of these races is that you and others are somehow finding the will to move forwards, which I think is absolutely incredible.

00:26:42.698 --> 00:26:44.215
Where were you at on day three?

00:26:44.215 --> 00:26:45.815
Were you down at the KOA?

00:26:45.815 --> 00:26:49.867
Were you somewhere in that area, down in Salvo or Rodanthe?

00:26:49.867 --> 00:26:51.692
Wherever, that is yes.

00:26:52.192 --> 00:27:04.140
So when I got to, I got to the halfway point, which was Hatteras Light, and then we stayed in Buxton that night, which is about another mile and a half up.

00:27:04.922 --> 00:27:12.702
I can't even remember the name of the hotel and actually that night I got the best sleep of the entire event.

00:27:12.903 --> 00:27:28.257
I got seven hours of sleep and actually Dave Moore was very kind and he gifted us the room because he had been in there for several hours that afternoon into the evening and he contacted Denson and said hey, I'm here for a few hours.

00:27:28.637 --> 00:27:34.324
You know, you guys helped me with a place last night, so I'm going to help you with this place tonight if you want to come stay.

00:27:34.324 --> 00:27:49.305
And I really feel like that was God setting the whole thing up, because you know we didn't have a plan of where we were going to stay that night and so you know, thanks to Dave, it just literally fell into our lap and so we showed up around nine o'clock that night.

00:27:49.305 --> 00:28:01.998
He was leaving at about midnight that night, so you know, we had a quick chat before I went to bed and so I slept seven hours and almost felt like a new man for a little while.

00:28:01.998 --> 00:28:03.980
But I felt like a new man for a little while.

00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:11.557
But I felt like a new man the next morning and you know, my spirit was really rejuvenated once I headed into day four.

00:28:12.299 --> 00:28:27.115
Yeah, I wanted to ask because a lot of times and we just did an episode on like how a bunch of us kind of grouped together and that whole interaction with other runners is something that can help you push forward for sure Did you have aside from Steve, I guess, who's following you around?

00:28:27.115 --> 00:28:33.404
It sounds like you met with Dave down in Buxton and that interaction was a pretty good one for you.

00:28:33.404 --> 00:28:38.923
Did you have interaction with other runners along the way or did you find yourself kind of running by yourself?

00:28:38.923 --> 00:28:39.951
Nick?

00:28:40.050 --> 00:28:44.540
was sort of unofficially with us for a long time.

00:28:44.540 --> 00:28:56.325
So I remember him from the house and we ended up first crossing paths, I guess just before we entered Cape Hatteras National Seashore on day two I think.

00:28:56.325 --> 00:29:10.611
And so, yeah, dent, sort of you know, took both of us under his wings really, and you know he was primarily crewing me so obviously I took priority but he was able to provide uh nick with a lot of help too off and on.

00:29:10.611 --> 00:29:25.477
And so really, from the time we picked nick up, you know, we were together off and on for most of the event up until the night before the finish yeah, so so you, uh, you guys came up to where were you based the night before.

00:29:25.529 --> 00:29:29.344
Did you stop at the Hampton Inn before you hit the beach section?

00:29:29.925 --> 00:29:34.824
Yes, that's correct, hampton Inn and Corrala, so we had about 32 miles to go from that point.

00:29:35.305 --> 00:29:38.817
So how had your return journey been from the lighthouse up to that point?

00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:41.184
Nothing was as bad as day three.

00:29:41.184 --> 00:29:45.990
Day three was when I bottomed out out, but there were still some challenges.

00:29:45.990 --> 00:29:50.718
In fact I would say day four.

00:29:50.718 --> 00:29:52.801
I think we covered so much distance.

00:29:52.801 --> 00:29:58.586
I think it was the night of day four, or was it day five, I can't remember now, but anyway when I stayed at the hampton.

00:29:58.586 --> 00:29:59.930
So we, I started it.

00:30:00.030 --> 00:30:07.993
I started in pea island that morning at about three in the morning, made it all the way to the Hampton Inn in Corrales, so that was a 43 mile day.

00:30:07.993 --> 00:30:30.747
It was my second longest day, yeah, and my spirits were so good for 90 percent of that day, in fact, mentally and emotionally, I felt like I was reveling in the potential success of the event in a way that I thought I would do on the last day, but I didn't on the last day.

00:30:30.747 --> 00:30:45.035
I really had my best mental and emotional moments on the day before, except for the last few miles, because by that point you know I'm tired again, I'm getting ill again, and then it rained.

00:30:45.035 --> 00:30:52.060
I was hoping to be in the hotel before it rained and I didn't make it, and so I was rained on for about three miles.

00:30:52.060 --> 00:30:55.849
It doesn't sound terrible, we run in the rain all the time right.

00:30:55.849 --> 00:31:05.576
But for some reason, when you're 100 and some miles into a journey run, it just feels like so much more and you know you can't see anything.

00:31:05.730 --> 00:31:10.862
The cars are coming around and when I came to the hotel room I said dance.

00:31:10.862 --> 00:31:13.252
I said man, I apologize if I'm.

00:31:13.252 --> 00:31:16.401
I said I'm just not in a good, not in a good head space.

00:31:16.401 --> 00:31:19.574
I said, but he said you know, I was totally fine.

00:31:19.574 --> 00:31:22.980
Like he understands, you know I'm not going to be, you know, chipper all the time.

00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:25.651
But he said I was fine, I was OK.

00:31:25.651 --> 00:31:33.845
But clearly, clearly I wasn't in the best of the best of moods when I came in that night.

00:31:33.845 --> 00:31:37.740
I'm like, oh my goodness, can this thing be over with already?

00:31:39.970 --> 00:31:50.846
Absolutely yeah, and I know from last year, getting rained on during this event is the worst thing, but hopefully you got a chance to at least dry your stuff out or change gear at the hotel.

00:31:50.846 --> 00:31:51.891
I did.

00:31:51.971 --> 00:32:04.085
So you know I'm whining a lot, I'm making it sound a lot worse than it probably was, but you know, in that moment it felt like everything, like it felt like I was never, ever, ever, ever, ever going to get to that hotel.

00:32:04.085 --> 00:32:04.945
You know how it is.

00:32:05.470 --> 00:32:06.894
It does seem like a long way away.

00:32:06.894 --> 00:32:09.355
Yes, it isn't, but it seems that way.

00:32:09.896 --> 00:32:10.358
It does.

00:32:10.358 --> 00:32:12.432
It did seem that way, but yes.

00:32:12.432 --> 00:32:27.983
So I did make it to the hotel, got there by about 10 o'clock I think, maybe nine, nine, thirty, something like that, and then Denson and I strategized again and set up a plan for me to be able to finish by the next night.

00:32:28.064 --> 00:32:33.961
So yeah, so you must have been at the hotel the same time that we were all at the hotel, I guess.

00:32:34.549 --> 00:32:36.278
I think you guys were there.

00:32:36.278 --> 00:32:38.939
You guys got there a few hours before we did.

00:32:38.939 --> 00:32:42.460
I don't know when you left, but maybe there was some overlap.

00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:43.080
I'm not sure.

00:32:43.609 --> 00:32:52.400
Yeah, we left about 1230, not to gloat or anything, but we were waiting for the rain to finish before we left rather than have to run through it.

00:32:52.400 --> 00:33:04.794
I don't think anybody in the group I was with really wanted to run through the rain, so we made a decision to just haul out in the Hampton Inn and hit the jacuzzi while the rain came through, and then we would go after that while the rain came through, and then we would go after that.

00:33:04.814 --> 00:33:07.636
But didn't Dave Moore and the I can't think of the other lady's name didn't they go in the rain?

00:33:08.397 --> 00:33:10.240
Yeah, dave and Kim Drake.

00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:14.085
Yeah, they went through the rain and we saw them on the beach later on.

00:33:14.085 --> 00:33:15.486
Well, that's not true.

00:33:15.486 --> 00:33:17.971
We saw Kim on the beach later on.

00:33:17.971 --> 00:33:21.721
We caught up to her closer to the finish line, but Dave was already done.

00:33:21.721 --> 00:33:23.135
But yeah, kudos to Dave.

00:33:23.135 --> 00:33:25.451
Well line.

00:33:25.451 --> 00:33:26.092
But Dave, dave was already done.

00:33:26.092 --> 00:33:26.653
But yeah, kudos to Dave.

00:33:26.653 --> 00:33:27.998
Well, hey, shout out to Dave for sharing his hotel room.

00:33:27.998 --> 00:33:28.358
I think that's a.

00:33:28.358 --> 00:33:33.916
That's a classic journey run tactic that definitely shows his experience in journey runs.

00:33:33.997 --> 00:33:38.714
That is something that happens quite a bit, I understand, in other journey runs a lot along the way.

00:33:38.714 --> 00:33:41.683
Sharing of hotel rooms, so good on you, dave.

00:33:42.105 --> 00:33:45.696
Oh, and a little, a little backstory to Dave Moore, is it?

00:33:45.696 --> 00:33:53.473
It's funny, man, because when he came to the house the night before the race, we were introduced to each other, but we didn't recognize each other.

00:33:53.473 --> 00:34:10.222
And then the next morning I think it was before the race, or maybe that same night, I can't remember, but he starts telling this story to the whole group of us about how the year before before, some guy who he didn't know came up to him and gave him a bacon sandwich and it just lifted his spirits and changed his day.

00:34:10.222 --> 00:34:14.668
And I'm like wait a minute, I'm the guy, I'm the one who gave you the bacon sandwich.

00:34:14.668 --> 00:34:14.949
He's like.

00:34:14.949 --> 00:34:17.175
He's like, yes, it is you.

00:34:17.175 --> 00:34:26.637
And so we had actually formed a bond the year before, but then we didn't recognize each other this year until he shared the story, and so we kind of already knew each other.

00:34:26.637 --> 00:34:32.516
So it was really cool for us to sort of, you know, continue that friendship into this year fantastic.

00:34:32.637 --> 00:34:34.702
I love that, and I love that about the race as well.

00:34:34.702 --> 00:34:47.494
It's a very social race lots of people interacting and coming back for for second years, whether that's as a runner or whether that's as a crew Right, in your case, both.

00:34:47.831 --> 00:34:47.990
And in.

00:34:48.010 --> 00:34:49.016
Steve Dent's case both.

00:34:49.016 --> 00:34:53.942
Steve Dent's is, if I can even say that appropriately, case both.

00:34:53.942 --> 00:34:56.057
So yeah, I think that's just terrific.

00:34:56.057 --> 00:35:00.161
So when did you set out from the Hampton Inn and how was your beach run on the way back?

00:35:00.161 --> 00:35:01.596
How long did that take you?

00:35:01.972 --> 00:35:10.610
We calculated everything out and I wanted to hit the beach by nine o'clock because I felt like that would give me enough time to get to the refuge before sunset.

00:35:10.610 --> 00:35:18.605
So we decided to get up at 4 am, roll out by 5 am, and so everything went according to plan.

00:35:18.605 --> 00:35:22.876
I did those 10 miles to the beach in about four hours.

00:35:22.876 --> 00:35:27.744
My last uh crew stop with dense and then I hit the beach.

00:35:27.744 --> 00:35:41.411
The thing is is, as I alluded to before, I thought the final day would be like sort of a victory lap mentality, like I would just be relishing in the upcoming victory and everything would feel great.

00:35:41.411 --> 00:35:43.155
And actually I was.

00:35:43.155 --> 00:35:45.079
I was just not, not really.

00:35:45.079 --> 00:35:49.918
I mean, it wasn't my lowest point during the race, definitely wasn't my greatest point.

00:35:49.918 --> 00:36:04.403
I just I wish I had enjoyed the last 32 miles more than more than I did, and so it just felt like like here we go again.

00:36:08.655 --> 00:36:09.780
But Dent's a something else.

00:36:09.780 --> 00:36:17.056
At first Dent's was going to meet me at the finish, but my corner had said through Dent's.

00:36:17.056 --> 00:36:23.135
He said tell David, I'm going to come to the state line gate and meet him and I'm going to run in with him.

00:36:23.135 --> 00:36:24.710
So that was the plan.

00:36:24.710 --> 00:36:28.755
Well, when Dan and I had our last cruise stop before I went onto the beach.

00:36:28.755 --> 00:36:38.385
Sorry, dan, I got to do this to you, but he got really emotional talking with me and he's like man, there's no way I'm going to let you run that beach section alone, dude.

00:36:38.385 --> 00:36:46.311
He's like we've been in this together.

00:36:46.311 --> 00:36:49.858
He said I'm coming onto the beach with my corner and we're going to run it in with you together Awesome.

00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:59.731
I don't know who else has been able to experience that in the history of the event, and they didn't quite make it to the gate by the time I got there, but I knew they were on their way.

00:36:59.731 --> 00:37:02.056
So after I came through the gate, I'm in Virginia.

00:37:02.056 --> 00:37:07.949
You don't trust most of what you think you see when you're on that long desolate stretch of sand.

00:37:08.431 --> 00:37:15.403
And so I literally had to stare at these silhouettes for a good 20 minutes before I trusted what I was seeing.

00:37:15.403 --> 00:37:25.739
But eventually the silhouettes got bigger, eventually they gained color, eventually they gained voices and I'm like, oh my God, they're really here.

00:37:25.739 --> 00:37:33.543
And so they danced swiftly, took the pack from my back, took my trekking poles.

00:37:33.543 --> 00:37:45.871
Man, I don't know where I would have been in my head without those two, the last you know, 10, 11 miles, because I mean I didn't have a choice but to finish by the time you're there.

00:37:45.871 --> 00:37:48.516
You know how it is, you're invested at that point.

00:37:48.737 --> 00:37:49.900
But there's no way back.

00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:52.052
Yeah, there's no way back.

00:37:52.052 --> 00:37:57.913
But mentally, emotionally, I just think it would have been way worse for me to to have not had them there.

00:37:57.913 --> 00:38:03.132
So I just can't even express to them my gratitude enough for for doing that for me.

00:38:03.835 --> 00:38:07.916
Well, huge shout out to steve dense and mike horner for going out.

00:38:07.916 --> 00:38:14.481
There was a group of us at the finish line at the time and we actually watched them get ready and leave to go meet you at the state line.

00:38:14.481 --> 00:38:28.018
And I know from experience just how desolate and lonely that beach section can be, especially when you've been on it for hours and hours and you pass the state line and you think, well, I've still got, I've still got more to go here.

00:38:28.539 --> 00:38:34.661
It's terrible because you, you, you're chasing a horizon that you can never achieve it just never stops.

00:38:34.760 --> 00:38:36.411
It just goes on forever and ever.

00:38:36.411 --> 00:38:37.494
And you're like this cannot.

00:38:37.494 --> 00:38:39.460
This has got to end at some point, surely?

00:38:40.041 --> 00:38:40.262
right.

00:38:40.262 --> 00:38:46.762
And then virginia beach shows up on the horizon and you think for a second OK, this is evidence I'm making progress.

00:38:46.762 --> 00:38:51.469
But then Virginia Beach taunts you and it's like shouldn't I be there already?

00:38:51.469 --> 00:38:54.699
I can see Virginia Beach and you just still can't seem to get there.

00:38:55.771 --> 00:39:02.351
You can just make out the outline, the silhouette outline of some buildings and you think, oh, I'm nearly there, I must be close.

00:39:02.351 --> 00:39:04.980
And then it takes forever to get to those.

00:39:04.980 --> 00:39:07.574
I just it, just, you're right, it taunts you the whole way.

00:39:07.574 --> 00:39:08.998
Oh, yeah, yeah.

00:39:08.998 --> 00:39:15.201
And then you're looking for that back bay brown sign because then you know you're in, you're in and you're like where is this sign?

00:39:15.201 --> 00:39:16.472
It must be here somewhere.

00:39:16.472 --> 00:39:20.501
It never seems to never seems to arrive until it does.

00:39:20.601 --> 00:39:28.456
But yeah, it's a long that that last section there is really long it is, it's brutal yeah, just mentally of challenge.

00:39:28.456 --> 00:39:30.721
So brilliant to have those two guys come out.

00:39:30.721 --> 00:39:32.353
I don't know if anybody else has ever done that.

00:39:32.353 --> 00:39:55.117
That would be something to ask, james and josh, whether anyone's had their crew run out to meet someone and run back with them well, you know, I did run with dense for the entire beach section at the end in 22 and 24 so so in that sense, yes, dents did have company the two years that he did it, but I don't know that anybody's run in from the other side and and then run back.

00:39:55.177 --> 00:40:03.572
That that might be new to the event, I'm not sure yeah, I guess people have had paces coming over the beach section before, but I wonder if anyone's actually gone out and come back.

00:40:03.572 --> 00:40:04.835
Well, and you and you finished.

00:40:04.835 --> 00:40:07.199
So how was it crossing the finish line?

00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:09.324
Was it everything you had imagined?

00:40:11.172 --> 00:40:12.755
It was way more than I imagined.

00:40:12.755 --> 00:40:16.771
So one of the things I really wanted to do was finish in the daylight.

00:40:16.771 --> 00:40:20.079
I just felt like it would be easier mentally and emotionally.

00:40:20.079 --> 00:40:29.916
You kind of feel like you're still with the world if you don't finish in the middle of the night, and so, you know, that was one thing I was really excited to be able to do is finish in the daylight.

00:40:30.536 --> 00:40:35.559
However, I couldn't have anticipated the type of reception that I would get.

00:40:35.559 --> 00:40:37.621
I knew I was going to be one of the last runners.

00:40:37.621 --> 00:40:40.543
I knew a lot of the earlier runners would already be gone.

00:40:40.543 --> 00:41:02.070
So, other than dance and the race staff, you know, I kind of wasn't expecting anybody else to be there, but you and the party pack were still there and just happened to be having dinner at the place where the finish line was, and so the way things just worked out time-wise was just absolutely perfect.

00:41:02.070 --> 00:41:08.038
Like I couldn't have set it up any better if I had tried to orchestrate all of that.

00:41:08.137 --> 00:41:24.400
So it was just so wonderful to, you know, walk into all of the cheers and finishers like yourself and the others in your group, and then you know the race staff and of course you know, dance, dance earned the first hug when I came in, because he's the one that got me through.

00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:27.992
It was like golly man.

00:41:27.992 --> 00:41:35.293
I just wouldn't even accept success until I was probably in that last half mile, and then I'm like.

00:41:35.293 --> 00:41:41.043
I just felt like a huge weight was being lifted off.

00:41:41.043 --> 00:41:54.835
Finally, I can accept that this is going to become a reality and I don't have any more distance left to face, you know and that was just a huge relief for me Total jubilation for sure, absolutely.

00:41:55.016 --> 00:41:59.811
And that last, probably mile or so road section, that seems pretty long too.

00:41:59.811 --> 00:42:03.655
When you turn on the road you're like, oh, I'm nearly done, I'm off the blue track and I'm on a road.

00:42:04.215 --> 00:42:04.735
It does.

00:42:04.735 --> 00:42:07.619
And the good news is, like I said, I've done it with dense before.

00:42:07.619 --> 00:42:11.742
So I remembered from those two years when you get off the beach you're still not done.

00:42:11.742 --> 00:42:14.646
So thankfully I already had that mental reference.

00:42:14.646 --> 00:42:23.099
And you know they kept saying oh, you know, remember, we get off, still got two miles.

00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:33.581
And I'm thinking to myself I know, but it's not the beach, so this is still great, right, it's not that damn sand, and so so I love that you finished and we were all there.

00:42:33.581 --> 00:42:34.804
We loved your finish too.

00:42:34.804 --> 00:42:38.336
I'm sure there's a video of it somewhere on the awareness and action site.

00:42:38.336 --> 00:42:42.454
There's usually a video of your finish that folks can go check out.

00:42:42.454 --> 00:42:42.976
I'm curious.

00:42:42.976 --> 00:42:47.713
Curious, though, along the way you took some really cool photos.

00:42:47.713 --> 00:42:49.862
You're looking back now that you've kind of had a minute.

00:42:49.862 --> 00:42:55.440
Was there any particular section or parts of the race where you think, oh, I got some really, really cool photos?

00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:58.336
What was your favorite photo that you took from the race?

00:42:58.737 --> 00:43:13.043
Well, as much as I dislike ultra running through the sections of desolation, those are some of the most photogenic sections, so I love to take snapshots of that big, open road to nothingness.

00:43:13.043 --> 00:43:14.449
I just think it's so poetic.

00:43:14.449 --> 00:43:26.282
I would have loved to have gotten some dune shots at Pea Island, but I didn't travel through there during the daytime in either direction, through there during the daytime in either direction.

00:43:26.282 --> 00:43:30.487
However, the stars there through that section were phenomenal.

00:43:30.487 --> 00:43:39.853
There was almost no light pollution, and so it really allowed the stars to pop out.

00:43:39.853 --> 00:43:50.235
However, I think the most memorable photogenic section was the of day four when, uh, I was leaving buxton and the pamlico sound is there to to the left.

00:43:50.235 --> 00:43:50.695
It was.

00:43:51.818 --> 00:44:16.777
I rarely create extra distance voluntarily, but I decided to create about 30 or 40 yards of extra distance to walk down to the sound side there because the scene was otherworldly, and so the photographer and me couldn't pass that up, not even during an event like this, and so that was the only time during the event.

00:44:16.777 --> 00:44:23.173
I wish I'd kept my real camera on me, because iPhones are great, but I don't think they translate colors the best sometimes.

00:44:23.173 --> 00:44:33.443
Iphones are great, but I don't think they translate colors the best sometimes, and I did the best I could in editing to try to duplicate what I felt like I saw with my eye, but I just feel like in person it was just way more beautiful.

00:44:33.443 --> 00:44:36.967
The colors were not what you typically see.

00:44:36.967 --> 00:44:44.632
There are purples and pinks and anyway it was just a good time to sort of stand still for a few seconds and sort of breathe in the scenery.

00:44:44.632 --> 00:44:46.873
So that was that was a really beautiful section to me.

00:44:47.855 --> 00:44:48.996
Yeah, I love that mindset.

00:44:48.996 --> 00:45:19.333
The sunrises and sunsets out there, generally speaking, are pretty epic and I love the fact that you just take a moment to sit and watch and I think a number of us in the group I was with especially on that last day on the beach when we saw the sunrise, since we'd been going through the photography that sort of calming aspect does that help you cope better or manage with the challenges that FSHD brings?

00:45:19.855 --> 00:45:30.110
Maybe I kind of joke and say that I'm always at war with my camera during ultras because it's always calling to me from wherever I have it stashed.

00:45:30.110 --> 00:45:46.728
But I often resist because I'm kind of like in race mode or ultra mode and I just don't like to fool with anything that takes me out of my rhythm, and so sometimes I don't feel like taking the camera out and I don't feel like taking the shot.

00:45:46.728 --> 00:46:02.512
But I also realize for me that's part of the journey and that's part of the adventure, and so, if for nothing else, it's good self-documentation for me to, you know, just pause for a few seconds to get that shot that I'll never have a chance to get again.

00:46:03.655 --> 00:46:10.503
Do you feel like that's a good mental reset for you, just like following that creative outlet in the midst of something so difficult?

00:46:10.503 --> 00:46:12.568
I guess as a 200 mile journey run.

00:46:13.195 --> 00:46:34.228
Yeah, I mean, I feel like photography while running, while adventuring, while hiking I feel like photography is, for me, is synonymous with those events, and so it's part of what I like to do when I'm out there, and so, yeah, it comes very naturally for me to do that sort of a thing.

00:46:35.375 --> 00:46:43.340
Yeah, I'm very much an amateur in that field, but for most of us anyway, it's a great pictorial reference and representation of what we did.

00:46:43.340 --> 00:46:50.065
But I mean, you've got some really cool images out there of just incredible peaceful scenes.

00:46:50.065 --> 00:46:51.851
A lot of your stuff seems very peaceful.

00:46:51.851 --> 00:46:58.092
I don't know if you would classify it as that, but you've got these beautiful beach pictures and the stars.

00:46:58.092 --> 00:46:59.878
It's all very calming.

00:46:59.878 --> 00:47:12.079
I wonder if that's by design or by accident, but either way that's how it comes across, I think my attraction to landscape photography is probably a reflection of my introversion.

00:47:12.782 --> 00:47:27.088
I feel at peace when I'm in the bush or I'm in the wilderness or I'm in, you know, a large open space, and so, you know, I just get really inspired to take photographs that don't involve a lot of activity.

00:47:27.088 --> 00:47:42.385
You know places where people see them and think, wow, you know, I can breathe in this place or I can think in this place, or I can reflect in this place, because that's how I feel when I'm in those places, and so I try to take photographs that might make other people feel the same way.

00:47:43.235 --> 00:47:49.666
And I think you're succeeding, whereas my pictures are like selfie of me on a bench during the same race.

00:47:49.686 --> 00:47:57.505
I got plenty of absurd selfies too, so don't let me fool you into thinking everything I take is a pro shot, because it's not.

00:47:58.976 --> 00:48:01.164
You're definitely a level up for me, that's for sure.

00:48:01.164 --> 00:48:09.355
But I can appreciate where you're coming from and I aspire to take some photos like that one of these days, if I can figure out how to use my phone properly.

00:48:09.355 --> 00:48:16.063
So when you take your phone in place of your actual camera, are you, like, really techie with the phone?

00:48:16.063 --> 00:48:22.503
Do you adjust all the settings and the aperture and all that kind of stuff, or do you just take a picture and move on like the rest of us?

00:48:23.516 --> 00:48:24.882
So I have an iPhone 15.

00:48:24.882 --> 00:48:26.621
So that's what I use 15 Pro.

00:48:26.621 --> 00:48:39.876
What I've learned about iPhones over the years is they have strengths and weaknesses, and so I've learned the types of lighting and times of day and scenes that are going to return decent shots versus one that aren't.

00:48:39.876 --> 00:48:46.657
One of the great shortcomings of iPhones is they are terrible in sunlight and so they just blow everything out.

00:48:46.657 --> 00:48:54.286
You're never going to get a starburst from the sun at least not a very good one, I don't think and so those types of shots are off the table.

00:48:54.914 --> 00:49:11.786
But if you have settings where maybe you know obviously what they call a golden hour early in the morning or later in the evening those are always good times to shoot Cloudy days you can do phenomenal things with an iPhone on cloudy days or overcast days or sort of milky skies.

00:49:11.786 --> 00:49:21.202
Yeah, you can do really, really good things with the iPhone and yeah, they do have some settings so you can tweak the lighting some.

00:49:21.202 --> 00:49:40.085
I may not do that as much as I would with a regular camera, but once you learn the strengths and weaknesses of an iPhone, and those star shots too you're still not going to pick up as many stars as you would with a camera and a lens, but if you hold it super still for a few seconds, you can still capture quite a few stars.

00:49:40.085 --> 00:49:43.427
Even with the iPhone too, they're really good at collecting light.

00:49:43.427 --> 00:49:53.336
So, yeah, everybody could do it if they aspire to for sure aspire to for sure.

00:49:53.356 --> 00:49:56.369
Well, folks, if you want to learn about how to get better photos with your iphone while you're doing your event, definitely go check out david.

00:49:56.369 --> 00:49:59.780
He's got some great shots out there and there might be some inspiration for you.

00:49:59.780 --> 00:50:05.360
Using your iphone, like I do, I'm definitely going to try to get better photos when I go do this stuff.

00:50:05.360 --> 00:50:06.643
See where I can get.

00:50:06.643 --> 00:50:08.327
So, david, what's next for you?

00:50:08.327 --> 00:50:09.436
Where do you go from here?

00:50:09.436 --> 00:50:15.048
Having done a 200 journey run, what on earth do you do after that?

00:50:15.048 --> 00:50:16.958
Are you ready?

00:50:16.998 --> 00:50:17.420
for this.

00:50:17.420 --> 00:50:19.065
Yes, go.

00:50:19.065 --> 00:50:19.947
What do you got?

00:50:19.947 --> 00:50:27.628
Eight days from now, I'm going right back to the Outer Banks for 100 miles along the same course we just did two weeks ago.

00:50:28.936 --> 00:50:30.222
You're doing Blackbeard.

00:50:30.443 --> 00:50:35.557
Yeah, blackbeard, blackbeard's revenge 100 yeah and that that's incredible.

00:50:35.818 --> 00:50:42.920
I can't believe you're going back to do more on the same course which is wild that one, I think, starts in corolla, does it not?

00:50:43.461 --> 00:50:48.476
yes, it starts at corolla light and goes all the way down to the museum.

00:50:48.476 --> 00:51:01.719
So it still goes to Hatteras Light and then back out that road, like Swami does, but then you take a left instead of a right and continue down for about another 13 miles to the museum, and that's where the finish is.

00:51:01.719 --> 00:51:03.503
It's one way at least.

00:51:03.503 --> 00:51:06.027
Yeah, it is, it's one way yeah.

00:51:06.375 --> 00:51:08.340
Wow, well, good luck to you on that.

00:51:08.340 --> 00:51:10.045
At least you'll be familiar with the route.

00:51:10.695 --> 00:51:11.978
I will be familiar with the route.

00:51:11.978 --> 00:51:17.809
It's funny because I actually Googled how long does it take to recover from a 200 mile run?

00:51:17.809 --> 00:51:22.686
Seems like AI has an answer for everything and I was shocked that they had an answer for that.

00:51:22.686 --> 00:51:29.840
And they're like yeah, they're like could take this long for this, this long for that, but expect it to take, you know, several weeks.

00:51:29.840 --> 00:51:35.057
And I'm like great, I'm going to be running 100 while I'm recovering from the 200.

00:51:35.057 --> 00:51:38.244
This doesn't sound like a good idea.

00:51:38.244 --> 00:51:40.989
Call it a long recovery run.

00:51:40.989 --> 00:51:44.742
Yeah, exactly, so we'll see what happens.

00:51:44.902 --> 00:51:47.228
I've attempted Blackbeard three times before.

00:51:47.228 --> 00:51:57.829
I DNF'd all three times because I was either at cutoff or was in danger of missing cutoffs to the point that I didn't see that it made any sense to continue on.

00:51:57.829 --> 00:52:00.844
So I'm going to give it another go.

00:52:00.844 --> 00:52:14.876
I know that with FSHD, you know the clock is kind of ticking, you know, maybe, and so I get a little slower every year, and so I think you know well, I I still am healthy enough to be able to attempt it.

00:52:14.876 --> 00:52:20.378
So let's give it another go and see what happens, and I may finish them, I may not, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway.

00:52:21.382 --> 00:52:22.505
Well, best of luck on that.

00:52:22.505 --> 00:52:25.985
Where do they have the aid stations, if any, or is it more journey style again?

00:52:26.655 --> 00:52:28.117
No, it's definitely not journey style.

00:52:28.117 --> 00:52:42.920
So they have at least basic aid stations like water and Gatorade every few miles, and then they have bigger aid stations like every 18 or 20 miles or so, and also with those bigger aid stations you can have drop bags.

00:52:42.920 --> 00:52:44.784
So a lot of people have crew.

00:52:44.784 --> 00:52:46.128
I've never had crew out there.

00:52:46.128 --> 00:52:56.449
I don't think you really need it, because you have the aid stations and you can do your drop bags and if you plan them out well, you know you should have everything you need during the course.

00:52:56.449 --> 00:53:00.545
So yeah, so it's planned out pretty well.

00:53:00.795 --> 00:53:04.985
I'm hoping that for a 100 miler the clock is generous.

00:53:04.985 --> 00:53:08.534
It's 32 hours, so that's about a 1920 or 1930 mile.

00:53:08.534 --> 00:53:30.795
I'm hoping that covering all of the same terrain again will feel mentally so easy, because I just did it but it took me five days to do it instead of 32 hours, and so, even though the physical challenge is more condensed and maybe in that sense more challenging during those 32 hours, I'm hoping that mentally it will feel better and maybe that'll be enough to push me through.

00:53:30.795 --> 00:53:31.257
I don't know.

00:53:31.739 --> 00:53:33.925
Well, best of luck to you out at Blackbeard's.

00:53:33.925 --> 00:53:40.119
My good friend, peter Y, is also running Blackbeard this go around and he did Swami last year, I think.

00:53:40.119 --> 00:53:42.403
Okay, look out for Pete.

00:53:42.403 --> 00:53:48.556
Okay, you can't miss Pete, he's a great guy, but good luck to you running Blackbeard Now.

00:53:48.556 --> 00:53:59.905
One of the things we do here, david, with every guest that comes on the show, is encourage you to pick or add a song to the free Choose to Endure Spotify playlist.

00:53:59.905 --> 00:54:04.807
Usually it's something to lift you up, motivate or kind of keep you moving while you're out on the trail.

00:54:04.807 --> 00:54:12.291
Do you want to tell folks which song you picked, if you can remember, and why that song kind of resonates with you?

00:54:18.934 --> 00:54:19.496
Yes, I remember.

00:54:19.496 --> 00:54:21.679
So actually, when we were in the race house, I was wearing a Striper beanie.

00:54:21.679 --> 00:54:26.009
Striper is a band, a Christian heavy metal band, that was formed in the 80s.

00:54:26.009 --> 00:54:47.034
They are still writing and performing music today, and so that band has always resonated deeply with me because during the turbulent teen years, you know, the message in music and the style of music really ministered to me, and back then my extreme sport was skateboarding and so I associated their music a lot with skateboarding.

00:54:47.034 --> 00:54:49.684
Now I associate their music with running.

00:54:50.496 --> 00:54:55.534
Actually, I saw them play at small venues in recent years 2016 and 2022.

00:54:55.534 --> 00:55:02.367
And in 2022, I was given permission to actually photograph the band during the first three songs of the set.

00:55:02.367 --> 00:55:03.509
How cool.

00:55:03.509 --> 00:55:07.204
Yes, I got a lot of really great cannon shots of the band.

00:55:07.204 --> 00:55:31.443
So, anyway, the song that I chose is the first Striper song that I ever heard, and still is my favorite striper song, which is Soldiers Under Command, and so, even if the lyrics and the message don't necessarily resonate with people, maybe the music itself will, and that's kind of what put them on the map was, you know, their their hard ed of of metal.

00:55:31.443 --> 00:55:34.108
It's very 80s, okay, but uh, it's.

00:55:34.108 --> 00:55:43.644
It's hard not to get a little uh motivated when you hear it, at least not for me anyway, and so maybe other people will feel the same way oh yeah, I'm a big 80s fan.

00:55:43.945 --> 00:55:46.092
I love some some 80s rock.

00:55:46.092 --> 00:55:48.998
I love the rock and the hard rock and all that stuff.

00:55:48.998 --> 00:55:50.559
So I I love this tune.

00:55:50.559 --> 00:55:55.086
I thought it was terrific and it will make a nice addition to the playlist.

00:55:55.206 --> 00:55:56.929
It's fast, you know it doesn't stop.

00:55:56.929 --> 00:55:58.099
It keeps going at you.

00:55:58.099 --> 00:56:00.181
It's definitely got that uplifting beat.

00:56:00.181 --> 00:56:04.023
So, from a running perspective, I imagine it's pretty cool to listen to while you're running too.

00:56:04.023 --> 00:56:10.704
So I'm going to chuck it on there and, yeah, we'll get that added so that other people can enjoy it just as much as you do.

00:56:10.804 --> 00:56:19.083
David, as we look to wrap up the conversation, I definitely want to thank you again for joining the show and sharing your story.

00:56:19.083 --> 00:56:30.646
I think, if anything, it's definitely a really good reminder that the human spirit is stronger than any obstacle out there, whether through miles on the trails or moments behind the camera.

00:56:30.646 --> 00:56:38.568
David's journey, I think, reflects the beauty of perseverance, self-expression and finding joy along the way.

00:56:38.568 --> 00:56:59.226
I hope you enjoyed this episode, listeners, as much as I did, and if you want to follow David's photography journey, you can find his work at Beloved Peace Photography on Instagram, which is awesome, perfect, and if you're out there browsing the Internet looking for that and I highly suggest you do there are some tremendous photos out there.

00:56:59.226 --> 00:57:05.016
Also, don't forget to subscribe to this show and that way you'll get notified each time a new episode drops.

00:57:05.536 --> 00:57:10.344
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00:57:10.344 --> 00:57:12.106
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00:57:12.106 --> 00:57:13.608
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00:57:13.608 --> 00:57:23.882
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00:57:23.882 --> 00:57:31.963
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00:57:31.963 --> 00:57:41.034
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00:57:41.034 --> 00:57:44.179
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00:57:44.179 --> 00:57:51.360
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00:57:51.360 --> 00:58:00.244
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00:58:00.244 --> 00:58:10.036
Until next time, make sure you run long, run strong, take some kick-ass photos while you're doing it and choose to endure.